For the Sake of Love!
by MadameLeFlour
Summary: Equestria is slowly dying, and it's up to Twilight Sparkle and her friends to find out why! Rising tempers, challenges, and romance, what are they to do? Who is the mysterious alicorn 'Princess Terra?
1. History

She was sleeping soundly on the earth in the woods she had created. Her wispy, emerald mane and tail were billowing around her slender brown furred figure and shining in the dim light of the moon. Her name was Princess Terra, first of the alicorns and watcher of Equestria. She woke to the soft swish of the golden brown leaves in the subtle winds. She swore she could smell chocolate as the storm clouds closed on the moon, blocking it from sight.

"Discord is here," she whispered to herself. She rose to her hooves and spread her wings, then took off with a mighty leap. Her gaze crossed from horizon to horizon to find him. Her piercing green eyes narrowed as Canterlot came into view. She could sense him there. She dove towards the shining city, soaring through the light chocolate drizzle and cotton candy clouds. She landed on the solid cobblestone of Canterlot's sidewalks with a graceful yet powerful stomp. A tall creature turned and faced her as she did so.

He had mean yet yellow eyes, the head of a grey pony, the body and arm of a griffin, the left arm of a lion, the right horn of a goat, and the left leg and right horn of a deer. His other leg was that of a green dragon, which led to a red, lizard-like tail. His right wing was that of a bat, and his left wing looked like a blue pegasis wing. He had a wry smile with a large pointed fang and a long white beard.

"Terra! Just in time. I was just thinking about teaching our little ponies about chaos." He spoke warmly and fondly to her. The alicorn dipped her head and looked down.

"It's your chaos we need to talk about," she looked back up at him, "The chocolate rain is killing the trees and grass, and the pigs are flying into regions they can't survive in, and the checkered hills are slowly destroying the earth. I'm sorry to say, but you have to stop. Celestia and Luna need to study the sun and moon, and the three minute days and nights are making them fight about who's more important. They need green fields and apples they can eat in one sitting." The draconequus looked hurt and shocked, but quickly regained his royal composure and said: "What exactly do you mean?"

"I'm saying that we can't be together any longer if this continues," she choked back her tears, "I'm going to have to stop you with the Elements of Harmony." He grew infuriated by the news, and he teleported away just as she was about to turn him to stone. She hung her head and flew back to her fillies. They looked at her with questioning eyes, but she just shook her head. She flopped down and looked at the moon. It was no longer raining, and the bright rays of the full moon's light reflected off the diamond tears on Princess Terra's cheeks.

{More to come. Tell me what you think, if you don't mind!}


	2. Meeting with the Princess

"I'm sorry for calling you on such short notice, Twilight Sparkle," Celestia frowned, "But this is an urgent matter. Equestria is slowly dying. Too many years have passed, and it can no longer wait. I need you to help me find the third alicorn, Princess Terra. I hate to say, but she's in a terrible depression, and if it continues, all of Equestria will turn to dust." She turned her noble chin to face the young purple unicorn in front of her. Her golden crown shimmered as the sun's rays caught it, and her mane glittered like the Northern Lights over a backdrop of white.

"But Equestria looks just fine," Twilight Sparkle was extremely puzzled, as were the five other ponies behind her. Celestia sighed: "Twilight Sparkle. Everything was brighter, the magic was stronger, and the dirt itself teemed with life. Everypony was happier. Every creature was, too. Don't you see? Our home is going to be destroyed if you don't find her. Luna and I have searched through this area already, and we can't abandon our duties to go searching in other parts of Equestria." Twilight Sparkle nodded, "We understand." The ponies behind her bobbed their heads in agreement.

"Then there is no time to waste. Good luck, girls!" Celestia shouted as they turned and left.

"So what do y'all reckon we do first?" an orange mare was the first to speak as the group approached the train station. She squinted as the sunset glared in her grassy-green eyes and bounced off her hay-like mane, then she shifted her hat to shade her eyes. The leather was worn and dirty, and a white pelted, violet maned mare eyed it with disgust. She spoke after clearing her throat, "I suggest that we pack up for the journey ahead. Do you think I should pack warm…?" She was soon lost in her own train of thought as they boarded the vehicle, allowing the rest of the team to think about what their first plan of action should be. The unicorn Twilight Sparkle brought up the top priority: "Food. We need to pack food. Unless this 'Terra' pony just happened to disappear in a place full of flowers and the such.." The group agreed. The train ride was spent planning out supplies and tactics. They decided on bringing their Elements of Harmony, along with food, water, and protection from the sun.

The ponies arrived at Ponyville, and they all dashed to their homes to prepare for the trip. None of them knew how long the trek would last, or how dangerous it would be.

Twilight Sparkle studied her map intently as she galloped to their meeting spot. At the corners of the map, there was, of course, unknown land, and in the center was Canterlot. Then there was that haunting desert just on the other side of the Everfree Forest, too. It was practically uncharted, because nopony who had explored its terrain had survived. A pink pony bounced up next to Twilight.

"Hey Twilight! I'm all packed up and ready to go!" She giggled and snorted. The unicorn nodded and hurried back to the rest of her friends. They, too, were ready, though the purple maned pony was nowhere to be seen. Twilight turned to a pastel pegasis, whose fur was yellow and mane flowed like a pink river, and asked: "Fluttershy, have you seen Rarity?"

"N-no.. Not since the train ri-" She was interrupted as the unicorn named Rarity strode into view. "So sorry I'm late, everyone, but Opal was napping on one of my finer linens, and her fur got everywhere. I just simply had to wash it before I even thought of bringing it."

Twilight Sparkle frowned, "Are we all ready?" A loud, resounding cheer echoed from the group, and they galloped away to the South.


	3. The Void

The journey was harsh, and the elements and weather were unforgiving. Twilight Sparkle had ingeniously decided, after much deliberation with her friends, that they would head towards the very most dead part of Equestria. It was a place that was so feared that the only name it had been given was "The Void", and nopony dared to speak of it regardless. No living thing that was foolish enough to traverse the scraggly rocked desert was ever seen again.  
The bleached bones of other ponies littered the parched and cracked dirt.

It had already been three miserable weeks of circles, back-tracking, breakdowns, thirst, and an unending starvation, and the six little ponies had started to lose hope. The grass had started as springy and full of life, and gradually turned brown and dead, then left nothing but dust and sand. Tall burgundy rocks jutted up from the earth, as if the group was trapped in a dragon's maw. They trekked onwards.

Rainbow Dash gave her wings a rest and walked with the rest of the party, then moaned a complaint: "You guys; this is taking forever!" Rarity nodded and turned to Twilight Sparkle, "I agree. My hooves are simply /aching/, and we haven't stopped in /hours/."

Twilight Sparkle groaned. "Does anypony else have any more complaints?" Fluttershy piped up from the back, "Um, yes, actually.. I think we should scout around- i-if you don't mind. Rainbow Dash could fly ahead, a-and we could take turns.." Applejack chimed in. "Ah agree, Twilight. We'll cover more ground that way, and if Rainbow sees somethin', the rest o' us won't be stumblin' 'round like dizzy school fillies." Twilight grumbled permission for a break and faced the blue mare again. "Alright, Rainbow Dash. Scout ahead; we'll be here waiting." The pegasus saluted, then took off into the cloudless sky. The sun shone brightly in her eyes and reflected off the scorched landscape. Everywhere mirages filled her vision, and the wind whistled in her ears and tugged at her mane. It seemed like an eternity that she flew, and she almost didn't notice the large mountain-like structure on the horizon. She flew closer to the bronzed earth, and soon realized that the mountain was deep crimson, like the rest of the rocks surrounding it. It was smooth, however, and flat at the top. There was a thick layer of glass that made the tip, but Rainbow couldn't see through the thickness of it. She gave up on her efforts and dashed back to her friends.

"Hey, there's a really weird rock up ahead. It's /huge/! I think Terra's in there!" She trotted in place excitedly, and the ponies' faces brightened. They stood and followed their friend through the yellowed landscape, and to the blood colored mountain. It towered over them, giving them some form of shade, even though they were still quite a ways away. The ponies finally reached the front of the rock. There were no signs of how to get in, and for just a moment, the rock looked like just that; a rock. Pinkie Pie bounced up happily:

"Hey; what's that?!"


End file.
